Miami’s avant-dance duo Afrobeta have been tearing up dancefloors their hometown since 2006, with the Miami New Times even naming them Best Band in 2010. After the success of their debut EP, Do You Party?, which came out last July, the band is ready to announce the details of their full-length debut- Under The Streets will see a release in Summer 2011 via Do IT Music Group (details coming soon)! Check out the first free track from the album, “Nighttime,” for a taste of what Under The Streets has in store for the world!

Cuci Amador and Smurphio formed Afrobeta in 2006 as a means to attain an ultimate form of artistic self-expression. Their mutual love of classic songwriting, Cuban pastries and dancing till 5AM inspired them to make music together. The thirteen tracks that make up their debut album will undoubtedly ignite dance-floors around the world- the band has a sound that is universally irresistible.

Afrobeta’s unique (and diverse) sound transcends genre classifications. Cuci’s rapid-fire delivery, combined with Smurphio’s funky synths and head-bopping basslines, will keep you moving from start to finish on Under The Streets.

Afrobeta is taking their joyous beats and dazzling live shows across the nation and abroad! 2010 included high profile performances at the 40th Anniversary Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, the 12th annual Ultra Music Festival, Burning Man, Ultra Brazil and Space Ibiza.

Download the FREE MP3 “Nighttime” HERE!

Electric Avenue Music and Arts Festival has just announced a Late Night All Star Jam featuring Kyle Hollingsworth and Michael Kang of SCI along with Speech of Arrested Development, Dominic Lalli of Big Gigantic and many others from this historic downtown event (Additional $15).

The Electric Avenue Festival, which is slated to take place over Labor Day weekend on the streets of Historic Five Points in Downtown Denver, has just announced their two-day schedule. The event will highlight over 22 live bands on two stages, arts and crafts vendors, outdoor beer and liquor tents as well as food booths representing the best in Colorado eatery. And, at a price of only $65 for a two-day pass or $130 for a two-day VIP Pass, it may be the most exciting and definitely the most affordable event in Colorado for music goers over the holiday.

Taking place on Sept 4th and 5th the event features a stellar line up of independent live music including Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Living Legends, Kyle Hollingsworth Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Pnuma Trio and even a Michael Jackson Tribute band aptly named "Who's Bad" among others.

The newly revitalized Five Points district is seeing an amazing surge in artistic and retail growth over the last few years. With a dramatic drop in crime and a bustling music scene developing under the new management at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom, their self-produced outdoor event is just one of many signs of transformation in this quaint historic neighborhood.

Event organizers are expecting over 4,000 people during the two day event which will feature an array of musical styles from Rock, Jam, Jazz/Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Bluegrass and Experimental music genres. Event participants will find ample parking and an urban festival environment that is so close to the heart of the city, area residents are encouraged to bike ride to the event grounds or take the Light Rail directly to festival gates.

The two-day and three-night event will take place between September 3-5th on Welton St. between 26th and 27th Streets as well as inside Cervantes' and The Other Side, with music starts at 1PM each day and a kick-off party featuring Who's Bad - The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute Band taking place on Friday, September 3rd.

Tickets are available:
Online: www.cervantesmasterpiece.com
Cervantes' Box Office: 2637 Welton Street Denver 80205
By Phone: 303.297.1772

While stationed in Phoenix, AZ during the recording of Miniature Tiger’s “Tell It To The Volcano”, (Rick is also a member of Modern Art act Miniature Tigers) Rick holed up in a friend’s bathroom with a microphone and a Powerbook and went to town.  The end result is the 9 song “vocal composition” coined “Mantis Preying”. By limiting the recording to body parts and vocal gymnastics, Rick began his first journey working with unlimited multi-track arrangements via Digidesign’s Pro Tools.  Bjork’s “Medulla” served as the predominant inspiration behind Rick writing and layering vocals without the use of instruments.

The songs on “Mantis Preying” feature dense, layered, complicated arrangements that somehow weave a central melody and structure throughout the cacophony of ideas.  This complex blend of rhythms and harmonies cannot seemingly come from one voice and one microphone. Though recorded under the constraints of “vocals only”, it projects a sum much larger than it’s parts, making use of the full sonic spectrum.  The record is completed with the song “Mystery of the Yellow Room” paying tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber by combining a medley of themes from the “Phantom of the Opera”.

Rick spent his formative music years studying piano in steamy, sun drenched, Phoenix, AZ, and graduated to drumming in a few different high school punk bands.  He learned quickly on instruments both stringed and skinned, and began tinkering with 4 tracks and microphones early on in the process.  Driven from an internal realization that he had to get the madness out of his head, vomiting the ideas out on tape became a cathartic endeavor for him.  As these bedroom demo samurai sessions wore on, Rick eventually started labeling these recordings with the moniker “Alvin Band”.  The bonus EP “Lady Portrait”, included in the package, is a latter example of these bedroom sessions.

Lately,  Rick has been rambling around the United States playing drums in Minature Tigers and opening for bands such as Ben Folds, Kevin Devine, and Guster. The Miniature Tigers crew has been performing material from the repertoire of Alvin Band as well.  There is a lot of music to come from young Mr. Schaier, and the combination release of “Mantis Preying”, coupled with the bonus EP “Lady Portrait” serves as a solid introduction into his sorcery. More lunacy on the way…

The group that has for more than 13 years brought you Quixote’s True Blue, Sancho’s Broken Arrow, Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey and Owsley’s Golden Road, is making their foray into the festival business with Dancin’ In The Streets, which is set for Aug. 7, 8 and 9. With headliners Dark Star Orchestra, Leftover Salmon and Steve Kimock Crazy Engine, the festival is a long time in the making and brings with it an aggressive lineup, proof that the same people that have given Denver years of nightly shows are more than ready for a little dancing in the streets.

Putting together a "Best Of" lineup of bands that have played with Quixote’s from the beginning, Jay Bianchi has created one of the best festivals of the summer in what looks to be an annual tradition. Five Points is an important part of Denver and it deserves to be a thriving part of this community, Bianchi said. The festival celebrates the Quixote’s group and the work they have done for so many years. From day one Quixote’s has been growing artists and bands, many of which are honored in the lineup for Dancin’ In The Streets. It’s a chance for everyone that has been a part of Quixote’s

to pay homage to more than a decade of good music and good people.

Sharing in Quixote’s moment in the sun is a stellar lineup that also includes Hot Buttered Rum, Papa Mali and Billy Kreutzmann, Cornmeal, Head For the Hills, Tea Leaf Green, Greensky Bluegrass, Stanky Pockets and Chicago Afrobeat Project. Such a strong lineup is testament to the time that Quixote’s has dedicated to these bands and Quixote’s will be celebrating the life of Jerry Garcia, their love of music and the up-and-coming Five Points district in the best way possible with the festival.

Five Points is a beautiful area of town steeped in the tradition of Motown, so it is fitting the name of the festival hearkens back to one of the most famous Motown songs ever. Five Points is daily being rediscovered and the festival aims to help make the district the heartbeat of Denver.

“So come on down, every guy, grab a girl,
Everywhere around the world.
There’ll be laughin’ and singin’, and music swingin’
And Dancin’ in the Streets”

When: August 7, 8 and 9. Music starts at 4 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday

Where: On Welton St. between 26th St. and 27th St. in front of Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom and Quixotes True Blue. The light rail will be shut down after the 26th St. and Welton St. stop, but fans will be able to take the train right to the gate.

Tickets: $40 per day; $100 for a three-day pass.

Tickets are available at www.cervantesmasterpiece.com, at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton Street, or by calling 303-297-1772.

For more details and band schedule go to www.dancinstreetsdenver.com.

Seventeen-year-old Texas native Sarah Jarosz emerged on the scene about five years ago as someone to watch.  Jamming onstage with bluegrass icons David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs, she played her mandolin with a sure touch and real joy.  It looked and sounded comfortable in her then twelve-year-old hands.  She started writing songs on the guitar and took up the banjo.  While her instrumental talents are formidable, let's make one thing clear:  Sarah is a singer.  Her voice is velvety smooth, agile, and powerful occasionally reminiscent of such disparate artists as Natalie Maines and Patty Griffin.  With subtle use of colors and effects, she inhabits her songs the way a fine actress does her role. Overall, her music feels good, avoids overreaching. Nothing's contrived.

About to graduate from high school this spring, Sarah is that rare self-possessed teenager. Her schoolteacher parents have raised her well, providing the skills, support, and freedom to become the confident artist that she is. Beautiful, talented, and just a little mysterious in a wholesome, Texas hill country kinda way, Sarah is at home in this world. She knows what she's about and is ready to get out there and make her mark.

"Song Up In Her Head," produced by Jarosz and award-winning engineer and producer Gary Paczosa, features a mix of her original new-old-timey ballads, and two well chosen covers, the Decemberists' "Shankill Butchers" and the Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan co-write, "Come On Up To The House," which mesh flawlessly with the other eleven songs.  Her collaborators include teenaged peers, including Samson Grisman and Alex Hargreaves, as well as well-known veterans of the acoustic scene, including Chris Thile, Darrell Scott, Stuart Duncan, Mike Marshall and Jerry Douglas.  It's an impressive coming out party, a survey of where she's been so far, and a good indicator of where she's headed.  [Adapted from the liner notes by Tim O'Brien]